Breaking down communication barriers

The brief

deafPLUS is a charity committed to improving awareness of deaf and visually impaired people’s needs.

The charity approached us to enhance its digital services and build on the early success of its Advice Line - the UK’s first ever helpline for British Sign Language (BSL) users. To achieve its strategic goals, deafPLUS needed to integrate all its services into a joined-up, holistic digital approach that would allow online users to find and access services and advice quickly.

deafPLUS’ vision is for an accessible world for deaf people, one in which all barriers to participation and opportunity are removed.

There are approximately 9 million people in the UK who are deaf or hard of hearing, with 120,000 using BSL as their preferred language. deafPLUS seeks to maximise the use of technology, and specifically digital channels, to further its mission and help enable a better quality of life for people who are deaf.

With the charity’s empowering ethos at the core of our strategy, we needed to enable deaf people to successfully communicate using smart technology and expand the breadth of their online information advice hub to allow people to find support easily.

The solution

Carrying out a digital audit, we identified that deafPLUS’ existing website needed to evolve significantly. It was essential to put the user’s need for support and advice at the heart of the online experience.  To make the BSL Advice Line as accessible as possible and broaden out its scope to help others via a simple and clear user experience.  Digital channels also needed to directly support and facilitate fundraising efforts to support the charity’s growth.  

As a result, we developed an information and advice focused website and app for the charity, integrating key third party products to deliver a coherent and seamless user experience.

Serving dual purposes as an ‘SEO brochure’ for the charity’s work and as online fundraising vehicle, the new website focused on driving revenue while simultaneously outlining the services provided by deafPLUS across the UK.

A standalone digital hub allowed users to access information and advice, chat with advisors, and book advice sessions via video and through local centres.

The robust digital platform developed for deafPLUS serves as an integrated online and back office solution that incorporates machine learning and AI capabilities to guide, harvest information from the web and respond to users’ needs.

Alongside the front facing services, we were able to support the organisation to move to the cloud for safe and accessible data storage; supporting their move from desktops to laptops, and over to Microsoft 365 to be able to work remotely and seamlessly as a team.